You Are My Heroine
by Donny's Girl
Summary: Mikey's always been the happy turtle. Turns out his tastes in women are a bit darker than he expected. Can Michelangelo deal with the emotional rollercoaster he fondly calls his Heroine? Mikey/OC. Read and Review!
1. You Caught Me Off Guard

Hero/Heroine

**You Are My Heroine**

_By Donny's Girl_

**A/N that is actually important ;)** : Woo new fic! Yeah I'm aware I have others going on…there's a thing called lockdown. Yeah, lots of that going on. Anyway…this fic is different from my others! Yay for differentness! I'm sure plenty of you have read the genius works of Elphaba Rose (previously Leo's Katana Babe, aka The n00b Hater)? Yes, I thought so. Well she and I share ownership (actually they're mine but I can let her think they're hers too lmao don't kill me Sami) of a couple characters we made up during our incredibly rad RPs, Shay and Ginny. Check out Elphaba Rose's oneshot Ruby in the Rubbish to get an idea of who Shay is, and I believe she mentions Ginny in her oneshot How Far. Anyway! The point is, go read those. Well this fic is based on my adorable little Ginny-face, and how she meets one of our dear boys in green…you can probably guess which boy that is if you read How Far….can you tell I'm advertising for her? Lmao Hope you enjoy this!

P.S. The title of this fic is based on the song Hero/Heroine by Boys Like Girls. To me, this is Ginny and (whichever turtle she picks who I shall not reveal)'s song. So if you haven't heard that song, I really suggest you listen to it. It's awesome for one thing, and for another it'd be awesome to actually know the song this story is named for right? Riiiight. Smart people.

DO IT.

Do you ever have those days where you're like, incredibely uber bored? Like, nothing's on TV, your sibs are busy, and you've already had about ten thousand pounds of every food imaginable just out of boredom? Yeah. Well, take that, plus being grounded. That was how my day was going down so far.

I don't really get how breaking a TV equals grounding. I mean geez, we have what? Seventy TVs? Ok maybe not seventy but we definitely have a lot. Besides, Donatello the Nerd King would probably click his heels if you told him he had to fix up a TV. He'd have taken it apart himself eventually anyway if I hadn't gotten to it first! He'd told me he wanted to before. Not sure why though…he tried to explain it to me and all I heard was 'blah blah blah something about wires'.

I suppose it was pretty dumb of me to be skateboarding in the lair though, but that was no reason for Sensei to take my board away! Excuse me if this place is too cramped with random crap that we don't need.

I tried to give that excuse to Leo (who chewed me out right after Sensei was finished) and he just yelled something about the lair being able to fit 100 people or something, no problem. He said something else too (something about being a child? I guess it was supposed to be an insult), but I think that was when I walked away.

Raph was definitely glad it was me that broke something this time. Usually he's the one that's a moron and breaks stuff. Sometimes it's when he's angry and he like, chucks a chair at the wall or something. Or it's when he's an idiot and is just clumsy. Hard to believe? Pft. Have you seen how huge he is? He could knock something over standing still in the middle of an empty room. He always gets in more trouble when he breaks something anway, mostly cause he doesn't take kindly to being yelled at. He won't say much to Splinter, but once he's already been yelled at, he's totally not in the mood for Leo's little follow-up lectures. That usually ends violently. It's very amusing, until one of them starts bleeding or something. Then it's hilarious for me and inconvenient for Don, coz he's the one that has to sew them up.

An incident similar to that had happened today actually, after I'd gotten in trouble. Leo had been hitting the scoldings that Sensei had missed, when Raph had stuck up for me. I knew it was probably just so he'd have an excuse to take out his frustration with Leo, so I didn't get all fuzzy inside or anything. And of course Leo completely forgot about me and let Raph have it instead. He may act all cool and collected, but he searches for reasons to fight just as much as Raph does. But, he never gets in trouble. In fact, Leo's not even in trouble right now. He just had to do flips with Raph and then he was free to frolic off and tend to his Leoish business. Sometimes I think he deserves a nice punch in the face.

So yeah, since me and Raph were pretty much forbidden from doing anything except breathe, we were sitting together on the couch, in front of the TVs. But, since we weren't allowed to watch them, we watched Don fix the broken one instead. Yeah. Big bundle of fundle.

I think Don was finding it harder to ignore the two pairs of eyes on him as time went on, because he sighed and looked up at us, his eyes tightened.

"Do you guys mind? It's a bit hard to concentrate with you two staring me down."

"We're not staring you down. Just observing your work!" I told him, shrugging. Excuse us if we're so bored that we'd actually be mildly interested in whatever he's doing with that stupid TV.

"You don't even know what I'm doing."

"Do too. You're fixing the TV."

"Good job Mike. You want a cookie?"

"…yes."

"Well too bad." Grumbled Raph, who'd been silent till now because was busy being pissed off at the world. "Because we're probably not allowed to move unless we have permission."

"Stop being such a baby, Raph." Sighed Don, waving his hand and returning to his work. "Just because you're whiny whenever you can't be topside doesn't mean the rest of us have to be miserable with you."

"I'll make ya miserable if ya don't shut the hell up…" Raph growled, and I laughed. A fight between Don and Raph would be awesome. Mostly because anyone with a brain knows that Don would get his shell kicked.

Don didn't seem bothered by the threat though. He just snorted and pretty much ignored him. I heard Raph's growl and grinned. "Fight, fight, fight!"

"We're not fighting Mike." Said Don, giving me an exasperated look. He bent back over the TV and mumbled under his breath, but still loud enough for us to hear, "He's not worth my time."

"That's it!" Raph jumped up and had his sais out so quickly I didn't even see him do it. Don was up a second later. He didn't have his bo with him though, so he was pretty much screwed. I laughed and sat back on the couch, watching as they circled each other.

"Hey Don!" I called after a few seconds of them glaring each other down, "What happened to being a pacifist?"

"Shut up Mike, grown ups are talking." Snarled Raph, still glaring evilly at Don.

"You would be very familiar with that, wouldn't you Raph?" said Don, smirking teasingly. "All talk and no action?"

Don only had time to blink before Raph had him pinned to the ground. "Woah!" I yelled, laughing at the same time. This was fantastic! "Turtle down, turtle down!"

"I'll show you no action, you son of a-!"

"What is going on in here?"

All three of us froze and then turned our heads in unison to see Master Splinter coming out of his room, looking majorly P.O.ed. Raph jumped up off of Don, and Don got to his feet. Raph took a moment to shove him roughly and mutter, "Weakling." Don glared murderously and looked like he was about to say something, but Sensei spoke before he could.

"Well?"

Don and Raph looked at each other for about two seconds, and then both started shouting at the same time. All I could hear out of it were things like "He started it!" and "Overreacted!" and "Not my fault he's too wimpy to defend himself!" Stuff like that.

"Enough!" Sensei shouted, and both of them shut up at once. Thank God. I was starting to get a migraine. "Michelangelo?" Sensei turned to me, and I felt my eyes widened. Oh crap. "Would you mind telling me what happened?"

"Uh…" I looked at my brothers, who both had looks that said 'if you don't take my side you won't wake up in the morning'. "I…didn't really see much. I just got in here." I ended with a big innocent smile. Couldn't hurt, right?

"Hm." Sensei's eyes tightened as he gave me that look that made me think he was looking right through me. Kinda made me want to crawl behind the couch and hide there. "Very well. Nonetheless, I cannot allow this kind of fighting between you four. A day has not gone by in these past few months that I haven't had to break up a fight." He turned to speak to Raph and Don directly. "Donatello, I believed you to be more sensible and peaceable than to pick fights with your brother. Raphael, although your brother is smaller than you, that does not mean he is weak. Size and anger do not equal strength, my son." I almost wanted to laugh at that part. Ha! Raph thinks he so cool coz he's huge… wrong-O! "I am disappointed in both of you." Sensei continued, and Raph and Don bowed their heads respectfully, even though there were glaring at each other out of the corners of their eyes. "Go to your rooms immediately."

"Yes sensei." Raph and Don bowed and left, Don eyeing the unfinished TV irritably. He always hates to leave his projects in the middle of them. Raph landed a good shove on Don's arm before closing his door. Don growled and headed toward Raph's door.

"Donatello!" Sensei warned, and Don grumbled and went into his room, slamming the door behind him.

"Well…that was eventful." I said, chuckling amusedly. Yeah, but now I was going to be bored again. Sensei shook his head and went back to his room, leaving me alone again. I sighed and flopped back onto the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Grounding stinks. Now I was going to be by myself because everyone was busy…oh, wait!

I jumped up, happy that I had a ticket out of here. Leo wasn't in trouble, he was never in trouble! I hurried to the dojo, which was where anyone who knew Leo would look first. Surprise surprise, there the little bugger was. I walked casually over to him, even adding in a little whistle to add to the casual-ness. I'm smooth, I know. I kept walking until I was right behind my oldest brother, but he still didn't turn around. I scowled and whistled louder, hoping to get his attention. Leo sighed and stopped in the middle of his kata, turning to give me an irritated stare. "Yes, Mike?"

"Oh, hey Leo! Fancy meeting you here!"

"Yeah, imagine that." He rolled his eyes, turned around and almost started again, but I cleared my throat to stop him.

"So uh…watcha up to?"

"…practicing?"

"Really? That is fascinating!"

He raised an eyeridge at me. "Ok…"

"You know what'd be really fun?"

"You're not allowed to play video games right now Mike."

"No, not that! I don't even know what video games are!"

"Of course you don't."

"No, seriously though, Leo. You know what would be fun?"

He sighed. "What, Mike?"

"Going topside for a run!"

He scowled at me. "No, Mike. You are not using me as your ticket topside!"

Oops. Catches on quickly doesn't he? Instead of the truth, I tried for flabbergasted. You know that's actually a word? It's like, my favorite in the whole world. "Wha-? Using you? Who ever said that was my plan? What kind of turtle do you think I am?"

"A stupid one. Because I'm not buying it, Mike."

"Buying what? I only want to go on a training run with the best ninja turtle in the whole entire universe." Oh yeah. Kissing ass always gets you where you want to go.

"Pft. And what happened to you being Battle Nexus Champion? If I'm so great, I must be better than you." Maybe not. He just had to mention that didn't he?

"Well… everyone knows I'm your favorite little bro, right?"

"I don't play favorites, Mike. And even if I did, it wouldn't be you."

I pouted, giving him the puppy eyes instead. Works on the other two, why not Leo? "Pweassssse, Leo? I'm so bored down here! I'm think I'm gonna explode!"

"I-"

"Pwease?"

"Mike-"

"Pwease?"

"We-"

"Pweassssssssssssssssse?"

"Alright, alright! But only for a run."

"WOO!" I punched the air and did a victory dance. Finally, I was getting out of here! Get ready, New York! Mikey's payin' a visit long overdue! Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

"Mike…stop dancing, you're scaring people."

"Right…I'll get my coat."

"You do that."

TIME SKIIIIIIIIIIIIIP

"Okay Leo…I think I've had…enough training….for one lifetime." I panted, bending over and supporting my weight by putting my hands on my knees. We'd been running for about two hours, racing more than training. Of course I always beat Leo. Everyone knows I'm the quickest and most agile turtle known to man. Worship me.

"Yeah, whatever…You're just….scared coz….I almost beat you….that last time…"

I snorted and looked down at the city while I tried to catch my breath. It was late at night, and all the lights were on. Despite the late hour, the streets were still packed with people, and the roads were still backed up with cars beeping at each other. I scanned the buildings, until I saw something that made my breath hitch and my eyes pop.

"Leo!"

"What, what is it?"

"Leo, look!" I grabbed his arm and pointed.

He looked, sounding nervous. "What, I can't see!"

"Dude, we have to go get pizza!"

I looked at him, grinning, but was taken aback by the deathly stare he was giving me, his eyes wide, eyeridge raised. "…what?"

I jumped when he yelled, "Why did you sound panicked, you nut brain?!"

"Geez, Leo! Cool yer jets!"

"Well for God's sake Mike, you made me think the worst!"

"Hey," I said, raising my hands up and shaking my head, "It's not my fault you're the most paranoid turtle on the planet."

I heard him growl and ducked, narrowly avoiding a slap on the back of the head. I laughed as he lifted his eyes to the sky. "We're not getting pizza, Mike."

"What?! Oh, come on Leo!"

"No, Mike! I told you, we're only on a run, that's it!"

"But Leooooo I'm hungryyyyyyyy!"

"We have food at the lair, Michelangelo."

"But I don't think I can make it till then!"

He sighed, giving me the dirty look that I knew to mean he was about to give in. I grinned at him, knowing victory was close. I'm so awesome I can't even stand it sometimes. Leo rolled his eyes and let out a quick, irritated sigh, then said, "Fine."

"Woo!" I immediately ran to the spot where we'd hidden our street gear, just in case, behind a chimney. I threw on the coat and fedora and chucked Leo's at him. "Hurry up, Fearless! They're not open 24 hours you know."

He put his on, grumbling something under his breath, but I couldn't hear him over the cars and stuff. Once slow poke was all dressed up, I front flipped off the roof into the alley directly across from the pizza place. I landed almost noiselessly, because I'm amazing. Oh, and attractive. I think I forgot to mention that before.

I laughed and looked up at Leo to taunt him about being slow, but he flipped off the roof before I could say anything. He did about three somersaults in the air. And landed noiselessly. Noiselessly as in I had to make sure he'd even landed. I huffed and crossed my arms, scowling at the ground. "I could do that." He just smiled, raising his eye ridges at me, before heading off toward the pizza place without saying a word. Cheeky bastard.

We entered the pizza place, which was crowded with crazy teenagers. Weekend nights are terrible.

"Alright, Mike. Just order your pizza so we can go."

"Keep yer shell on, Leo. I know you hate light and people but this is no time for your emo attitude."

He glared at me, which I took as a signal to get a move on, or there'd be no pizza at all. I hurried up to the counter before he could drag me out. That would just cause a scene…and possible injuries for Leo.

The girl at the counter turned around and smiled, very fakely, and asked, "Hi, can I take your order please?"

I think my eyes might have popped out of my head. I'd never seen anything like her! She was gorgeous, with dark red, shoulder length wavy hair, peach skin, bright green eyes, freckles on her cheeks…and huge knockers. In short, she was a total babe.

"Uh…" I kind of forgot how to speak for a minute. I couldn't really remember the English language, actually.

She raised her dark red eyebrows, her sparkly eyes tightening a little. "Can I help you, sir?"

"I…yes…um…pizza."

"Imagine that. Pizza at a pizzeria."

I jumped, feeling my face get hot. "I mean! Um…" I placed my usual order, pizza with every topping they had on it.

"Ok…" Her voice was kind of high, but not the squeaky, Kristin Chenoweth kind of high. Just the kind of high that says 'I'm innocent and adorable'. I barely even heard her when she gave me the bill and Leo had to kick me in the shin to wake me up.

"Ow!" I glared at him. He jerked his head toward the girl, and I jumped again. "Oh!" I got out the money and handed it to her. I expected her to be irritated and think I was the biggest moron on the planet. She probably did think I was a moron, but she did giggle and smile at me. I stopped breathing and smiled sheepishly back. She gave me my change back, and my heart skipped when her hand brushed mine.

"Your pizza will be ready in about 20 minutes."

"Right…thanks." I bowed my head and headed out the door, Leo right behind me. I knew he was there because I heard stifled laughs. I felt my face burn even more and walked more quickly, trying to at least get him far enough away so I couldn't hear him laughing at me.

"What was that all about, Mike?"

I stopped and turned to glare at him. "I don't know Leo. Please drop it."

"Well geez Mike, I think you might have scared her a little."

"She was hot, alright?"

"Well yeah but that's no reason to act like a crazy person."

"Hey, don't say she's hot!"

"What? Just because I recognize a beautiful girl doesn't mean I'm gonna hit on her…she's all yours." He added with a snort, and then just totally broke down laughing. Hilarious Leo. Get ready to wake up tomorrow without a face.

I lifted my eyes to the sky. "I hate you Leo."

Leo, still chuckling said, "Oh, come on Mike. It wasn't that bad. She didn't seem too bothered."

"She's probably just nice."

"Yeah, well, no big loss anyway." I raised an eyeridge at him. He shrugged. "It's not like anything could have happened anyway."

I stared at him, feeling my stomach drop. He was right. Nothing could have ever happened, even if she didn't think I was a complete dork. Like she'd consider even being friends with a huge mutated turtle.

I was brought out of my thoughts by Leo. "Mike, I'm sorry. That's not what I-"

"Nah, you're right Leo." I told him, waving my hand to show my fake indifference. "I was stupid to think anything could have happened. I'm fine." He frowned at me, but dropped it.

"So…what do you want to do for a half hour?" He asked, looking like he was trying to brighten the mood.

"Not a clue."

"…another race?"

"You're so on, bro."

A/N: did you like my time skip? Lmao. I thought you might. Don't forget to review fools! Criticism is appreciated, flames result in your death. FEAR ME.


	2. There's No Turning Around

**You Are My Heroine**

_By Donny's Girl_

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Enjoy this um…..kind of late chappie. And don't forget to review after you're done!!!!!

**MICHELANGELO:**

So because of my fantastic performance at the pizzeria…I didn't go back to that place for like, a year.

Ok…so it was 24 hours. But it was a WHOLE 24 hours! I mean seriously, pizza was vital to my existence! Without it I'd…have seizures something! Well…I hadn't had a seizure yet, but I was definitely waiting for one. Since I figured I could collapse onto the ground at any second, I tried to get out of my grounding that was in place for the next 5 or 6 days. I figured I'd get to the root of the problem…Master Splinter. I could have begged Leo to take me topside again, but the others were out doing something. I wasn't sure what, because I stopped paying attention when Sensei said I wasn't allowed to go. I didn't think that me and Leo would actually get in trouble for getting a pizza the other night…I mean seriously, we were providing food for the family! If anything it was generous, right? But of course Sensei wasn't focused on that…he was focused on the fact that Leo gave in and did something besides running. Excuse him for having thoughts that aren't related to training…wayyyy deep down in his head…like way deep down…Sorry, getting a bit off topic. I do that a lot…Don says it has something to do with 'ADD'. He said it means I have 'shell for brains' and I'm hyperactive. Like I haven't heard that before. He's just jealous 'cause I'm more attractive than him. Yep, that's it.

Anyway…so yeah, I wanted to get out of being grounded. Because it sucks right? Yeah. So I went to Sensei's room, a bit nervous I admit. I mean when Sensei says something, you have to be an idiot to question it. I mean, not that I'm an idiot…whatever.

I knocked on Master Splinter's door. He told me to come in, so I slid open the door and stepped inside. Of course, it smelled almost like Leo's room…a crapload of incense. Sensei's was a tad worse than Leo's though. Well not so bad that you want to gag but still bad enough to be distracting.

"What is it Michelangelo?" Sensei asked, giving me a suspicious look. Was I that obvious?

I kneeled in front of him, partly because we were supposed to do that out of respect…and partly because being respectful might get me brownie points. I'm a genius, I know. "Uh…Sensei…I was wondering…well…if maybe I could…not be grounded anymore?"

"Of course not Michelangelo. You must serve your punishment without complaint, or I will lengthen it." It almost looked like he wanted so say 'and I will kill you while you sleep if you mention it again'. But I don't think he would.

"But Sensei, Raph's not even grounded anymore! You let him go with Leo and Don today."

"Of course he is…I simply allowed him to join Leonardo and Donatello because I believed him to be going mildly insane from cabin fever…" He shook his head before continuing. "You would have been allowed to go with your brothers today as well, had you not defied my wishes the other night." He narrowed his eyes on the last part. I mumbled under my breath about Leo being the one to agree to it. It was completely unfair that Leo hadn't even gotten in as much trouble as I had when we came home that night. I bowed my head when Sensei narrowed his eyes a bit further at me. Oops, he heard me. "What was that Michelangelo?"

"Nothing Sensei." I grumbled, glaring at the ground. I hated my life.

There was a long silence, before I heard Sensei sigh. His sigh kind of sounded like Leo's when he's decided he's going to give in just to get me to shut up. But I knew it couldn't be that easy with Sensei. Or could it?

"Michelangelo…I suppose I could lift your confinement to the lair." I opened my mouth to say something, but he gave me a look that told me to zip it. "But if I hear of you doing anything you are not supposed to be doing up there, you will never set foot out of our home again."

"Yes Sensei!" I didn't even really think about what he said. I mean he wouldn't actually keep me in this place forever would he? He was just bluffing. Sensei dismissed me and I got up quickly, headed for freedom. It wasn't until I was out the door with my coat and hat that I remembered I'd forgotten to bow on my way out.

Why did I want to go back there? Why did I want to see her again? Was I insane? Had I completely lost it?

I paced back and forth on the rooftop directly across from the pizzeria, the same one me and Leo had been on last night.

I'd been walking back and forth in the same spot for about five minutes now, debating whether I should go in or not. I didn't even really want pizza (my stomach was feeling like I might be sick actually), but I couldn't make myself go back home! I just kept walking back and forth like an idiot, getting plenty of leg exercise but definitely not making any progress with my decision.

Eventually I came to one. I'd walk in, and if she wasn't working, I'd leave, get on with my life…and try to find a new pizzeria. If she was working…I pushed that out of my head. I mean come on, she was working late last night, she obviously had the night shift.

Apparently that wasn't as obvious as I thought it was…because I found myself pulling my hat down over my face a bit further and making my way down the building to the side alley. I crossed the street and approached the door to the pizzeria, hesitating before the door. I looked inside the glass door, trying to spare myself even having to go inside.

Of course she was working. Why would she only have a nightshift? I mean, that's what I wanted…I'm not allowed to get what I want. Not even when it's probably for the good of my sanity.

My sanity had obviously been effected already…I opened the door and walked in, despite my conscience, who thought it was cool to show up NOW of all days, screaming at me to turn back. I went to the counter, afraid to look up. I knew she'd recognize me.

She turned around after talking to some guy in the kitchen, fake smile on her face as she prepared to greet another customer. Her smile dropped a little, and her eyebrows raised when she saw me. "Oh, it's you."

I seriously think I almost threw up just then. My stomach twisted so bad it felt like I'd been shanked like seven times. "Uh, yeah." I said, trying to hide the hurt in my voice.

She suddenly looked worried. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't…I mean…I don't know why I said that."

I shrugged, pretending I didn't care. "It's cool."

"I really am sorry…it's just…this isn't a good time for me."

I frowned a little. She did look a little upset. "What's up?"

"I…nothing. I've just been…working a lot." She looked at me, seeming to be thinking about something. Then she looked up, as the sound of the bell on door told us that someone was coming in. "Um…you should go."

"What?" I asked, cocking my head a little. I hadn't even gotten my pizza yet! Or her name…

She looked like she wanted to say something, but stopped and put on a fake smile, but a different one than her 'customer' smile. It looked like she was pretending to like someone, pretending to have misty eyes when really they were hard and irritated. That's weird. I looked over my shoulder to see who she was looking at.

A tall guy- close to six foot probably- walked in. He was kind of lanky, any muscles he had were wiry and tiny. Let's just say if we were in a gun show…I'd so win. He also had dark brown hair, and dark eyes that looked black. He looked at my behind-the-counter-angel kind of funny, almost possessively as he made his way behind the counter, and kissed her on the lips.

Aw, hell! She had a boyfriend!

She looked up at him, a wide irritable smile on her lips. He smiled back at her, looking a bit sadistic and creepy, then looked over at me. His face fell immediately into a stony, wide eyed glare. I raised my eye ridges at him. If he had a problem we could settle it outside…I was always game for that.

"Who's this?" He asked, turning his glare towards her.

"Customer, babe." She answered, sounding sheepish and looking at his chest subordinately.

"Hm."

He looked at me again, and I started to get a bit fidgety. Wow, this was awkward.

My angel saved me. "Um, did you need something Jacob?"

His stony glare immediately turned into another one of his sadistic smiles. "Do I need a reason to visit my beautiful girlfriend at work?"

She wasn't flattered; I could tell. She smiled fakely up at him again, her eyes narrowing a little. "I suppose not."

"Good."

She gave him a weird look at that, then a guy in the kitchen told her my pizza was ready. She grabbed it, then turned and handed it to me. I looked at her, and she was looking right into my eyes, the expression on her face meaningful as she said "Come again."

"Uh…will do. Thanks." I answered, trying to sound casual. We both looked down at the box, and neither of us let go for about three seconds. She let go quickly then, looking at me with a confused look. I flashed her a small half smile that I hoped was secretive, then nodded to Jake. "See you around." He said nothing. I tried my hardest not to scowl as I made my way out the door.

GINGER:

Today has possibly been the most confusing day of my life.

A weird guy came into the shop last night. He had on a trench coat and fedora, which hid his appearance. Apparently the guys in the kitchen knew him as soon as I placed his order; he must come here often.

I think his older brother was with him; they acted like it. But the guy kept staring at me instead of placing his order. Normally I would have gotten annoyed, but something inside me just made me giggle instead. It was weird; I wasn't even attracted to him. I couldn't be, I couldn't see what he looked like!

Later when the pizza was ready, his big brother came in and got it for him. He probably thought he'd embarrassed himself and didn't want to come back in. Poor guy.

But today he came back. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. When he came in I didn't act very excited. It wasn't anything against HIM…he just made me very confused. I mean…I really felt attracted to him. It wasn't even realistic; I couldn't see what he looked like, I didn't know him. How could I possibly even look at him twice?

Plus there's Jacob. My boyfriend of almost a year wasn't always the friendliest, but I was sure that I was in love with him. He merely demanded respect from me, which was reasonable. He was smart, and since I'd moved out of my parent's house he'd taken care of me. He'd even gotten me my job at the pizzeria.

I didn't always respect him. I talked too much, and spoke my mind when I shouldn't. He didn't like that, and he let me know it. I knew all he wanted was to take care of me, and I was a terrible person for making it difficult for him. And sometimes I almost hated him! Hated him, even after all he'd done for me. I was ungrateful, and I knew it.

And I shouldn't have made Jacob angry today. He came to see me at work, when the strange guy from last night was talking to me at the counter. He thought I looked upset, and asked me what was wrong. I told him nothing, that I'd just been working hard. Really, I knew that Jacob would be angry that he was here. I knew Jacob was reasonable in his anger. He worried about my faithfulness, and it was valid. Even now, with a boy I couldn't see, my faithfulness was questionable.

And as if my thoughts weren't bad enough, without thinking I asked him to come back. Most people say that to their customers when they leave, but they don't really care if the customer comes back or not. I wanted him to come back. I wanted to see him everyday. I wanted to talk to him. To know him. There was something about him that magnetized me to him.

After he left, I sighed. Jacob had been rude to him, and I felt bad for it. Jacob wasn't the most polite person, and it was embarrassing sometimes. But I knew Jacob was just defensive. He didn't let people walk over him…like me. I wasn't strong, he'd shown me that. My place was to listen to what he said, and do what he said, and I would be alright. He'd told me that many times, and I had come to believe it, knowing it was true. Without him I would be nothing. Without him I'd lose my apartment, my job, my life. I needed him.

Jacob turned on me after the strange guy had left. He looked angry. I could tell because his jaw was clenched and his eyes were on fire. "Who was that, Ginny?"

"I told you , Jacob." I said shortly. I couldn't help it. I knew I was terrible, but I was never good at holding in my feelings, especially irritability and anger. I was annoyed with Jacob. I thought that the strange guy would never come back again. I'd never see him again. I really wanted to.

"You were a bit friendly for just a customer."

"I'm a friendly person."

"So was he."

"Is that a problem?"

"Oh no. Not at all."

His tone made me shiver with fear, but I kept up my defiance like an idiot. "Good. Now if you don't mind, I'm trying to work."

I turned back to the register, but then a sharp pull on my wrist made me yelp. I was swung back around, ending up nose to nose with Jacob. "Don't forget who got you this job in the first place, Ginger!"

I stared up at him, wide eyed, and shut myself down. I knew he was angry, and I felt terrible for making him so. I'd been an idiot again, and forgotten my place. I cleared out my emotions, as I usually did when Jacob told me to do something, so that I wouldn't be swayed and would just do as he said.

"That's what I thought." He released my wrist then, and I massaged it. It was red, and I already saw three small places on my wrist bone where bruises would form. He sat down at a chair then, crossing his arms and watching me.

I turned back to the register, and swallowed the large lump in my throat before welcoming the next customer, putting on what I hoped was a genuine smile.

A/N: woo! That's done. Wanted to make it longer but then it would have been like ages long and you'd just get bored. Tell me what you think! Review pleeeeease!


	3. You Are My Heroine

**You Are My Heroine**

_By Donny's Girl_

**Disclaimer: **Noticed I'd been forgetting this thing….well, I totally don't own TMNT. Or there'd be so many open-minded humans you wouldn't be able to think straight. And I'd have to insert myself in there…so me and Don could make beautiful children together. ANYWAY. In conclusion, I so don't own them. And uh, yeah. So don't sue me. I'll shoot you down.

OH YEAH! And the diner scene, is copyrighted to Stephenie Meyer. Because it's a little bit like the scene from Twilight but tweaked lmao. And also, Mikey uses one of Edward Cullen's most famous lines. So Stephenie, credit to you. I can't afford to be sued by you. Pleasse don't. heh.

**A/N: **Thanks for all the kind reviews! Glad you guys are enjoying this hehe. The best part is- I will totally finish this fic! I should throw myself a party when I do. Hehehe anyway, enjoy this chappie you guys!

**MICHELANGELO:**

I never thought that I would, one day, completely and totally understand why Leo is the way he is.

I mean, we all complain about how overprotective he is. Whenever we leave, he like quadruple checks if we've got our Shell Cells on us. And even if we're only taking a short trip, like Donny to the junkyard, he tells us to be careful. And whenever we're in battle, he always ends up getting hurt more than the rest of us coz he's trying to fight for four turtles. I used to think it was kind of stupid.

But now I knew exactly how he felt! Coz I felt that way with the girl at the pizzeria. Ginny…I'd heard her asshole boyfriend say it when he came to see her at work the other day. Ever since I first laid eyes on him I knew he was no good for her. Sure I didn't know her that well, or at all at the time. But he was creepy, and possessive, and every time he looked at her it was like he was daring her to do something.

She didn't seem to like him that much either, which confused me. I mean, if he was so annoying then why was she still with him? Maybe they were on the verge of a breakup…I must admit, that would make me one happy turtle.

Yeah, until she asked me to take off my hat. MAYBE we could be friends after she'd stopped screaming. But she'd never want to be anything more than that! I mean…not to be getting too far ahead of myself or anything…but what would she want to do with me? I mean geez, we're a different species. It doesn't exactly work that way.

I wouldn't mind of course.

But I don't think she'd go for that.

But even if I knew she'd never feel the same way I did, I still felt like I had to protect her. Jacob was dangerous, I could tell, and I wouldn't let him hurt her.

That's why I visited her everyday. She didn't seem to mind; even after a week she hadn't told me to leave her the hell alone yet.

I came to make sure I was there when Jacob came (she still made me leave when he came, but it couldn't hurt to try), but eventually she was telling me about…well, her life in general. She talked like she hadn't had a one on one talk with anyone in years. I loved to listen to her though. I could listen to her voice all day.

Her life had been okay before Jacob. Her parents were nice, they'd lived in one of NYC's metro cities. She was an only child. At home, she had a dog named Baby. She'd met Jacob when she was 16. They'd known each other for about a year, when she and Jacob started dating. When she was 17, Jacob convinced her to move out of her parents' house, saying that they were stifling her and she needed to get out on her own. Jacob was able to get her out because he was 18, so she lived with him until she turned 18 and could get her own place. Only a few months ago she'd gotten her apartment, which Jacob had paid for. She wasn't going to school because she needed to work her job all day so she could pay her bills and stuff. Jacob wouldn't help her with that; he said he'd already gotten the place for her, it was her job to keep it.

That was all I learned over the course of about a month. During our talks, I would lean against the edge of the counter, talking with her until the sky turned orange and I knew it was time to go home. I didn't learn much about Jacob himself, although I wanted to. I knew I shouldn't pry with her, especially about him. Watching her, I'd noticed that every time his name was mentioned her shoulders would tense a little, so I knew she didn't want to talk about it, and I wasn't about to make her. Sometimes Jake would come in, and I'd have to book it so Ginny wouldn't get in trouble with him. About a half hour later I always came back, and if he was gone I'd stay with her until her nightshift. If he was still there, I'd wave to her through the window, and when Jake wasn't looking she'd smile and wave back, and sometimes even blow me a kiss.

I wasn't sure what to think of that. I mean sure it was awesome, but the blowing-a-kiss thing is used by practically every girl. It's just a girly thing to do. It's cute, but it doesn't mean you like the guy or anything. Or maybe it does. Hell if I know, I'm no girl. I like to pretend that I know pretty much everything about women, and while I probably do know MOST things…they do confuse me sometimes. Hell, I haven't even had any experience with women before Ginny! That's mostly Don's department. He gets EVERY girl. Not that he's ever had an actual girlfriend…coz they usually live far away. Like wayyyy far away. But every girl we meet ends up having a stupid crush on him….except April. That one I can laugh at. Because Don has tried to get that woman to like him for years, and it hasn't worked yet. Sorry Donny, but apparently she's into big goofy apes like Casey.

Leo even had a little romance in our early days…with Karai. Ughhh. Yeah, she and Leo had some hardcore sexual tension going on for a while about a year ago, but then Leo pretty much had enough of her Lady Shredder shenanigans and gave up on her. If she wanted to switch sides…eventually…that was just fine and dandy, but he wasn't gonna keep trailing after her like a lost puppy.

Me and Raph…we're just too hot for the ladies. They can't really handle us. Our glaring sexiness blinds them so that they can't even be in the same city with us. Leo and Don are just jealous. We play hard to get…Don's practically a manwhore and Leo's one lady ended up being a crazy case. Oh yeah, me and Raph so win when it comes to ladies.

I'm totally rubbing this Ginny thing in Raph's face. I met a girl before him and it's awesome. Raph tried to tell me he'd met girls before. But I told him the only girl he's ever met was a blind old lady. And…then he got mad and hit me. I think I bruised a little but it'll go away. It was so worth it anyway.

It's been about a month now, and me and Ginny have become pretty good friends. It's great, but I do have a tiny, dull knot in my stomach every time I go see her. I know that eventually I'll have to tell her I'm a big green mutant turtle, but I can't help but stall! I mean…what if the truth ends our friendship? What if I never see her again? I'd be one depressed turtle, that's what.

I did tell her that I have three older brothers. She already knew Leo, and she said he seemed nice. I laughed. Yeah, when he really wants to be, he's awesome. When he wants to be an asshole, he's great at that too. I told her that he's the one I talk to when I just wanna talk about nothing, just coz a million thoughts are going through my head, and he always listens. I didn't tell her that he might have to share that role with her pretty soon, though.

I told her she'd probably like Raph. Mostly coz he's awesome. I mean yeah, he hits me and is probably responsible for possible brain damage, but he's still cool. He acts irritated at me, but he's really the only one who will play video games with me when I'm really uber bored, or will check out my (amazingly sweet) drawings when Leo and Don really don't care or are too busy. He even makes me feel better when I do badly at morning practice…which seems to happen a lot since I'm NEVER awake for morning practice. Yeah, Raph rocks.

I told her about Don too. That he's a geek. That he saves our shells ALL the time. And that he's really afraid of blood, which I find comical. I know this coz when we were like, really little, Raph and Leo were wrestling (yep, goes back to the diaper days), and Raph gets this HUGE ass gash on his arm from hitting the corner of the end table. Of course he thought it was pretty freakin sweet, coz he's Raph and has some kind of blood fetish or something. He showed it to Don, like 'look how sweet that blood is Donny Boy' and Don just turned really pale green. Of course Raph was all confused like 'hey Don why doesn't this blood look cool to you isn't everyone else creepy like me', and Leo made Raph go away coz Don looked like he might be sick. I thought it was funny, resulting in my teasing him until this day about it. When Raph comes in from being 'out' and needs some stitches, Don doesn't turn pale anymore, but I know he holds his breath while he's sewing up the wounds, so he won't smell it.

Ginny listened surprisingly attentively while I blabbered useless information about my bros. I didn't think she'd be that interested, but she said she'd like to meet them. I felt my eyes go a bit wide, and was glad she couldn't see them under my hat. Yeah…that wouldn't go down well babe, sorry.

Master Splinter still doesn't know about Ginny. I could seriously worship Leo for keeping it from him this long, and I apologize to him every time we're alone. I know Leo hates lying. He's pretty good at it when he needs to be, but I know it kills him, especially when it's to Sensei. He never really acts angry at me though, like I'm being an asshole for making him do this, which I kind of am. He just asks me how things are going, and if I've gotten her number yet. Freaking weirdo.

Of course, I'm not about to stop seeing her just for Leo's sake. I mean yeah that's selfish, but come on. What Sensei doesn't know won't hurt 'im. And even if I did end up telling Sensei just because I felt bad for Leo, I'd never set foot outside this stupid place again. Sensei doesn't like humans, and doesn't trust them. The only human he likes is April, and he tolerates Casey. Other than that, he acts like they're monsters. If he found out I'd been talking with a pretty human girl for the past uh…month and half is it?....he'd totally beat my shell dude. And then I'd be locked in some underground dungeon or something. And Leo would be my watchman. Oh yeah. It would happen.

I think I watch too much TV…

On this particular day, I was on my way home. The sun was just beginning to set, and a little while ago I'd just been to see Ginny. Jacob had called her while we'd been talking about her breaking her wrist the first time she rode a bike. She'd told me to leave quickly, and I did. Now I was taking my time going home, my hands in the pocket of my hoodie, which I'd traded with my coat and fedora. That was mostly Raph's look…he could keep it. I preferred the sweatshirts…they were fuzzy and comfy. Very nice.

Anyway, yeah, I was walking home. I stopped for a second to look at the sunset. The sky was orange, which anyone who knows me knows is my favorite color. I kinda wished I had a camera, but I remembered Leo had it last coz he was taking pictures in Central Park. He's seriously such a dork.

I sat down on the edge of the rooftop, and watched the sky for a while, then looked down at the thinning crowd of people. A head of red hair caught my eye. It was Ginny, heading home early from work. I frowned. She was walking fast, and rubbing her eyes like she was crying. I was immediately concerned (I'm just a caring turtle like that), and got up to jump down into the alley ahead of her. I waited until she walked past. Her sniffling echoed through the alleyway. I followed after her, waiting a while before tapping on her shoulder.

She stopped and turned around to look at me. Oh yeah, she'd been crying. Her green eyes were sparkly with tears, some of which were trickling down her freckled cheeks. Her hair was up in a messy bun and kind of frizzy, like she'd been roughed up a little. She doesn't wear make up, but I still thought of those girls in movies who, when they cried, had black stuff running down their faces. I knew that's probably how Ginny would look if she wore any of that.

"Hey babe, you alright?"

"Hey Mikey…uh, yeah. Yeah I'm alright." She said, sniffling and wiping her eyes. "Just a…rough day."

I nodded, knowing that she meant Jacob. Whenever she looked at me like that, she was telling me that she didn't want to talk about it, and I knew what it was anyway. I watched her patiently as she got a tissue out of her purse and wiped her eyes with it.

"Sorry, I hate that you have to see me like this."

I shook my head. "Nah, don't even worry about it." We stood there for a minute, she looking at the ground and calming herself down, while I watched her intently, seeing if she was going to start crying again. She seemed to be calmed down now. "You wanna go somewhere?" I asked her. I knew she probably didn't want to go home; Jacob always met her there after work, and there would be no exception today.

Her eyebrows furrowed a little. What, had she thought I only wanted to hang out with her if we were in the pizzeria? "Where?" She asked me.

"I dunno." I said, looking around, then spotting a little place across the street. I pointed. "There. Just, anywhere."

She smiled at me, and nodded. "Sounds fine to me." I grinned at her, even though I knew she probably didn't see. We walked across the street, and I made sure we didn't get struck by a vehicle. We walked in, Ginny standing so close to me her arm brushed mine sometimes.

It was a tiny place, the lights not too bright but not so dark you feel like you're in a horror flick. In the corners were small tables with two chairs, and we went and sat at the one right next to the door, just because we only came in here to be somewhere, not to enjoy the décor or anything. A waiter came by and asked us what we wanted. He looked at me funny, and paid more attention to Ginny than anything. We just got some drinks. Ginny wasn't hungry; she said she felt a little sick. I didn't want to scare her with my eating habits. The waiter winked at Ginny when he went to get the drinks, and Ginny gave him a weird look. I ground my teeth. Ginny giggled at me, and I immediately relaxed. She had that effect on me, I guess.

"So," I said when the stupid waiter brought us back our drinks, ", how was uh, work today?"

She laughed humorlessly, and I smiled sympathetically. "Jacob yelled at me in front of the whole place."

I settled for a frown, instead of blowing up like I felt like doing. "Why? What happened?"

She shook her head, looking like she might want to cry again. I grabbed some money out of my pocket, prepared to set it on the table and take her out if she needed to cry. "Well, the manager of the place is his good friend. And the manager told him that I'd been talking to some guy all day everyday for almost two months." I felt my stomach twist. Shit. "And Jacob came in and started questioning me, and I was sure he couldn't possibly know, so I played stupid. Then he told me that his friend that had told him about it, and practically brought the roof down yelling at me. He said I was a faithless tramp and I was lucky he didn't get me fired." She glared at nothing, the tears trickling from being squeezed out. "I left work early because of that. I'll probably get in trouble, both with my boss and with Jake. I left him there with all those people, and he doesn't like it when I make him look foolish."

I was really freaking pissed now. How dare that asshole treat her like that! And in front of all those people! How could she even go back to work tomorrow without being harassed about it? "I…I'm sorry Gin. I…don't really know what to say."

She smiled at me. It was genuine, not like her fake smiles, reserved for customers and Jacob. "You don't have to say anything. Just being here and listening is okay." I wasn't convinced, but at least she was smiling. Well, not for long.

Almost immediately after that, what was left of the color in her face was gone, and her smile had dropped, her eyes wide.

"What, Ginny?"

"Shit!" She hissed, and flipped up the hood on her sweatshirt.

"What??"

"It's Jacob! He must have followed me here!"

"Really…?"

"No, don't turn around! Is he looking over here?"

"How should I know, you told me not to turn around!"

Ginny let out a quick, stressed sigh and peeked around me to the door, where Jacob was standing, staring straight at us, a confused waitress next to him, trying to get his attention. Ginny whimpered and threw her head down on her arms. "He's looking."

My head was racing. Shit, if he found her here with me he'd throttle her! I could leave, but then she'd be sitting there alone with two half finished drinks; that would be suspicious. Plus, she was already on Jacob's hitlist for the day for leaving him in the pizzeria.

My thoughts were interrupted when a soft hand grabbed mine. My heart stopped, and I stared at my glove covered hand, enveloped in Ginny's soft peach colored one. Then, I heard her voice and it snapped me out of it. "Mike? Mike! He's coming over here, didn't you hear me?"

"Uh, yeah! Right, ok. On my signal, we're going to get up, and walk out like nothing's wrong. Don't walk too fast, don't walk too slow. Got it?"

"Ok."

"And don't look back."

"Ok."

"Alright…" I counted about five seconds, then set out the money on the table casually, not really caring about getting the change back or not. "Now."

We stood up and walked out, both of us probably looking really creepy with our hoods up. We continued holding hands the whole way. I don't think Ginny had noticed, and I didn't let go because I really just didn't want to.

We continued walking down the street, and Ginny looked behind her nervously, then started to involuntarily walk faster. "He's following, Mikey, he's following!"

I pulled on her hand gently to make her walk at my pace. "Chill, chill, just act normal, and keep going." We did just that, and when we became surrounded by a swarm of people, I got a brilliant plan. I went directly to the right, into an alleyway, pulling Ginny with me.

"What are we doing?"

"Sh." I turned so my shell was facing her, and wrapped her arms around my neck from behind, pulling her up onto my back. "Hang on." Then, I jumped up onto a fire escape and started to make my way to the rooftop.

"Augh!" Ginny exclaimed, obviously not ready for that sudden rise in elevation. "What the hell?"

"Chill out- you're not afraid of heights are you?"

"No." I could almost feel her scowling at me, and I smirked. She was fun to annoy; she was so cute when she scowled at me.

I set her down on the rooftop, then walked to the edge of the building to see if Jacob was still there. He was standing in the middle of the crowd, looking around and looking very pissed off. To him, it would look like he just lost us in the sea of people. Once I knew we were safe, I turned around, grinning at Ginny. She was holding my hand again. Did you know that butterflies can get so intense that they HURT? I didn't either. But they can.

"That was fun, huh?"

She laughed. "Geez Mikey, you're like Superman!"

I grinned wider; damn right. "I prefer to think of myself as Turtle Titan."

"…who?"

My smile dropped. Great. "Or uh…Spiderman."

"Oh." She giggled again, and I smiled. God, her laugh was beautiful. I know that sounds sappy but come on- if you heard it you'd want it on recording too. Wouldn't that be a sweet ring tone? That would so make my day every time someone called me…might have to do that sometime…

I was snapped out of my daydreaming when Ginny abruptly let go of my hand. Her eyes were wide as she stared at it. I looked down, and my stomach dropped. My glove had come off somehow, and revealed my nice, big, three green fingers. "Uh…"

She looked up at me, looking a bit fierce. I wasn't sure if I should think that was hot or scary- I was thinking both at the moment. "Michel…" She's the only one who's allowed to call me that…she usually called me that when she was in a good mood. I guess it's what I'm called when I'm in trouble too.

"Uh…yeah?"

"What are you not telling me…?"

"Um…not much…I mean I guess there's some childhood memories and stuff I haven't shared yet but-"

I was cut off by her hitting me in the chest. Ow. "Stop it!" She yelled, looking really angry now. Damn, little girl big temper I guess. "Stop lying, now!"

I grabbed her wrists so she wouldn't hit me anymore. Shit shit shit…I was hoping I could put this day off for a bit longer! Like….a few years maybe? "Alright, alright! Just, don't hit me anymore."

"I will DECK you if you don't tell me the truth! Right now, Michel!"

I sighed, letting go of her wrists and shaking my head. "You'll get freaked out."

"What, you think I'm not a bit freaked out right now??"

"Well…you'll stop talking to me."

"I'll never speak to you if you don't tell me the truth. Try me."

I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. Here goes nothin'… "I'm uh…a mutant. Turtle." And trust me, I'm the pretty one babe.

She didn't like, freak out. I dunno, I mean she didn't look really scared, but she looked me kind of funny and stared at me. She took a big deep breath, then started to nod slowly. "Okay…thank you, Mikey."

I raised an eyeridge. "What, you're not gonna freak out?"

"Well, no." She said, shrugging, looking like she wasn't quite used to the idea of talking to a huge turtle, but not looking like she was about to hit me with her purse and run away screaming. "I mean…you're still Mikey right?"

I tried not to grin too widely. Okay, I officially hands down am in love with this girl. "Yeah…um, Ginny…" I looked down. If I'd known she'd be this cool with it I would have told her a long time ago. "I'm sorry I lied. I just didn't want you to be afraid of me."

She smiled. "I know. It's okay Mikey, I'm not mad." I gave her a look. "Uh, anymore." She giggled a little. I smiled. She ducked her head down to look at me under my hood. "Um, can we lose the cover please?" I whipped it off without thinking twice. I was so excited for her acceptance I was feeling a little hyper. I really should be taking those pills Don gave me.

Once the hood was off, she cocked her head to the side a little and just kind of looked at me. It was the first time she'd looked me directly in the eyes since I'd met her. And she held me there like a prisoner, dude. I didn't look away once, I barely even blinked, while she studied my face. After a while, she slowly smiled.

"Never cover your face again around me."

I frowned. "But…I need to."

She shook her head, smiling. "Not when we're alone. Up here, it's safe."

I grinned. "Yeah, it can be like our own rooftop!"

She laughed at me. I wasn't sure why she did, but her laugh made me want to smile wider. "Yeah."

Okay...crisis averted. Now I wanted to do something I'd been too chicken to do for a long time. "So…can I like, call you or something?"

She seemed to be really happy about that question for some reason. She got out her phone. "Totally. Here, put your number in mine and I'll do with yours and blah blah blah." I grinned at her and took the phone from her, putting my number in. She looked up at me suddenly. "Oh, don't put your real name in, coz Jake knows your name from the guys at the pizzeria, and he'll see it in my phone."

"He goes through your phone…"

"Are you really that shocked?" She shrugged. "He's just checking up on me."

I gave her a weird look. "Whatever you say babe. What should I put instead?"

"Some kind of code name…" She giggled to herself. "Turtle Titan."

Awwwesome. I put that in, feeling like the smile on my face would NEVER go away. We got our own phones back, but before Gin could put hers away it rang. She answered it. "Hello?" Her eyes widened and she looked at me. "Oh, hey Jake." Apparently something he said made her nervous. She looked around her frantically. "I'm…at my apartment." I saw her face turn red. "At the diner? Nope, wasn't me." She kept looking at me the whole time she talked to him, looking like she was about to freak out. "Coming over? Now? Um…alright." Then she pulled the phone away from her ear and frowned at it, then closed it. Apparently he'd hung up.

Before I could even say anything she'd taken off at a run. "Ginny?" I called after her, completely confused. "Where are you going?"

"Home! Jacob said he's coming over!"

I followed her. "…how are you going to get down?"

"I dunno, I'll jump, tuck and roll or something. But I need to go, for all I know he called me from outside the building and is on his way inside right now!"

I grabbed her hand and she stopped. "Here, I'll give you a lift. I can get us there in a minute."

She seemed to debate for a second, then nodded and climbed on my back. "This is completely weird, just so you know Michel."

I chuckled. "Which way do you live?"

She pointed straight ahead. "Just keep going, it's down the street a ways." I took off immediately. I felt her grip around me tighten when we went over alleys, but other than that she just laughed because really, this WAS weird. Suddenly I heard, "Stop!" in my ear. "It's that building straight ahead. My window's the last one of the top story, the open one."

"Good job Gin, leavin your window open."

"Shut up Mike."

I laughed and jumped over there, landing on the fire escape outside her window. I set her down and she climbed in, then breathed a sigh of relief.

"He in there?"

"Nope! Thanks so much Mikey."

"No problem babe. Geez you make me feel like some sort of superhero, and you're like the damsel in distress whose ass I have to keep saving."

She laughed at me. "I am not a damsel in distress, Michel! I don't need saving."

I grinned. "Fine…you can be my heroine."

She smiled back. "What, I'm some kind of drug now?"

I shook my head, smiling. "Yeah…you're my brand of heroin."

She stared at me for a second, smiling and eyebrows furrowed a bit. "…you read Twilight didn't you?"

I blushed a little. "Uh…Leo did. He made us go see the movie with him."

She laughed at me again. "See you tomorrow Mikey."

Well that was embarrassing… "See ya babe." The doorknob turned then, and she quickly turned around. I whispered another goodbye to her, and then closed the window for her quietly.

As I walked home, I had this weird feeling in my chest. Like I was filled with air or something. My stomach didn't hurt with butterflies anymore, just fluttered and made me want to scream or something. I was glad I was on a rooftop, coz I could run as fast as I wanted to. I passed the alleyway that had the manhole near the lair about three times, just wanting to run and get it all out of my system so I wouldn't get picked on my the others.

Finally I was done, feeling a bit less jumpy and kind of tired. I jumped down into the alley and lifted the manhole, then started to head home.

Oh man…if me and Ginny ended up dating Raph was so never living it down.

A/N: …oh Mikey. Hehe sorry about the lateness of this thing guys! Hope you loved it as much as I loved writing it!


	4. I Feel the Weakness Coming On

**You Are My Heroine**

_By Donny's Girl_

**Disclaimer: **TMNT aren't mine. If they were Splinter would have been killed such a long time ago.

The main storyline belongs to myself and Elphaba Rose. Worship that bitch. WORSHIP HER. Even though she's an emo lover. We can all see past that right? Riiight. We love you Sami.

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews! You guys totally rock. I know that probably seemed like….a bit soon for Ginny to find out about Mikey. But there's SO much storyline left lol. This actually gonna be really freaking epic….a crapload of chapters. I love my chapters short and sweet, so it'll take a lot of them to get the entire storyline in. Enjoy that.

Oh and another thing….you guys will notice a LOT of Leo/Mikey focus in this fic. That's what I'm going for. In the show, Mike and Leo's relationship is hardly ever touched on, so I figured I'd emphasize it, for fun and because, well, I think that a little brother would go to his big brother for advice on girls (not that Leo has much experience) and how to deal with…life. Seems plausible to me.

Alrighty, enjoy guys! And if you read this author's note you're officially awesome. Yepp.

**MICHELANGELO: **

I stopped feeling so awesome as I got closer to home.

I mean come on- I'd just TOLD Ginny my family's most well kept secret! Leo was going to SKIN me! Never mind what Sensei would do!

I debated keeping it from them. I mean, I'd already lied to Sensei for nearly two months with no hazards, why stop now? But the smarter part of my brain told me that this was a bigger deal. Before we were just chit chatting really. Now she knew. She knew EVERYTHING. That wasn't a bad thing…to me. To Sensei it was the end of the effing world.

So instead of keeping it a secret, I figured I'd tell Leo first. Get a practice lecture…and maybe some advice on how to deal with an angry Master Splinter. I mean yeah, Sensei'd been mad at me before…but today he'd be murderous! I was too young to die! There were so many things and cute redheaded cashiers I hadn't done!

Feeling a bit jumpy with nerves, I walked into the lair, which was noisy as usual. That was a good sign- everything seemed pretty normal. I walked into the living area- you know Raph watches wayyy too much TV these days? I mean I thought I was bad. I think he needs a woman. Seems to keep me out often enough. But yeah, he was doing that as usual. "Hey Raph, where's Leo?" I asked him, looking around as I asked.

"What am I, his keeper?"

"Ok, really Raph," I said, irritable because of my nerves, "Your jackass attitude is NOT helping me right now. Is he or is he not in this vicinity?"

"Wow…big word Mikey, good job."

"Is he?!"

"Hell, I dunno! Why don'tcha look for 'im yerself, geez!"

I threw my arms in the air in exasperation. He was seriously so unhelpful. I heard noises in the kitchen. Uh…not likely, since the three of us had pretty much banded together and forbid Leo from entering the kitchen without supervision. But it was worth a shot.

I walked in, peaking around the corner first in case there was some kind of safety hazard in there. False alarm, he was just making tea. Blehhh. Seriously, Leo's one and only addiction is tea. Raph would say Ninjitsu's another, but I prefer to think of that as an obsession. I mean, if you took away Leo's tea…he wouldn't be able to function. I asked him once, if I burned all of his tea and broke the kettle, what would happen? He said he'd probably start convulsing or something. I can't say that I doubt that. I should try that…sounds like a fun activity for a rainy day.

Anyway, yeah Leo was making tea. I kinda stood in the doorway for a second, hoping he didn't hear me, but knowing he probably did.

"Hey Mikey."

I raised an eyeridge. Sure enough he heard me, but... "How'd you know it was me?"

He shrugged, turning away from the kettle for a second to look at me. "You all have distinct footsteps."

I gave him a weird look. "Alrighty then…" He shrugged again and turned back around. I cleared my throat nervously.

"…something wrong Mike?"

"Heh…uh, you could say that." I walked over to stand next to him. He didn't pry; that's usually how he handled things. We talked if we wanted to. And he used reverse psychology or something to make us think we wanted to talk, but really it was probably the last thing we wanted to do. We stood in silence until the kettle started whistling. Leo started to pour the water into a mug.

I was really thinking about bailing right now. I'm usually not such a chicken…but for some reason this seemed like a really big deal! And especially having to tell LEO…at least it wouldn't hurt as bad if Raph or Don told me I was an idiot and they were disappointed in me. I've looked up to Leo since we were freaking babies dude! But, God knows I can't keep anything inside for too long. So I guess that's why I completely and totally blabbed without even thinking. Well…I guess I kind of yelled it.

"I told her Leo!"

Leo jumped a little, and spilled boiling water on the counter, some of it spilling onto his skin. Ohhh, that's gotta hurt like a bitch.

"AGH, dammit!" Yep, it hurt. Man, haven't heard Leo swear in a looong time. He held his hand, where some of the water had burnt him, then scowled at me. "What are you talking about??"

"Oops, sorry dude!" I ran to the fridge and got a bag of ice out, and threw it to him. He caught it, still glaring at me, and held it on his hand.

"Thanks." Mild sarcasm. I could deal with that I guess. "Now what are you talking about? You told who what?"

I sighed, and went to stand near him again. Not sure why; I guess I didn't value my own well being enough to get a safe distance away from him before breaking the news. "Um…Ginny."

He stopped and just looked at me. Man, had he caught on that fast? "…what about Ginny?"

I rubbed the back of my head, tensing and getting ready to book it out of there if Leo went on an insane rampage. "I uh…told her. About…us."

He slowly narrowed his eyes. "What about us?"

"You know…the whole…"I gestured toward my body, "…turtle thing."

"What?? Mikey!"

"Sh, sh!" I whispered, looking out of the kitchen door to see if anyone had heard Leo's little outburst. "I know, I know, just calm down alright!"

"What did she do??"

"Well…nothing."

"…nothing?"

"Yeah. She was fine."

He gave me a weird look. "You're kidding."

"Swear to God, dude."

He looked at me for a second, and then shook his head. "I knew this would happen."

"Look, Leo, it's no big deal!" I told him. "She's not gonna tell anyone!"

"How can you know that?"

I rolled my eyes. "Please don't pull this Splinter crap on me, Leo."

He glared at me. "He might have a point."

"He has no point, Leo. And I think you know that."

He looked at me kind of funny, like he was thinking really hard, then shook his head. "It doesn't matter, Mikey. You can't just tell humans about us, you could get us all killed!"

"She's not just a human, Leo!"

"I know how you feel about her Mike but it's still dangerous!"

"Give me a break, Leo! She's 5'3 and has cute little freckles! She's NOT dangerous!"

He opened his mouth to say something back, but a raspy voice cut us both off. "Leonardo, Michelangelo, enough!" Ah, hell. We shut our mouths immediately, turned and bowed as Master Splinter entered the kitchen. I peeked over at Leo. He was giving me an expectant look. Dammit. "What are the two of you shouting about?" Sensei looked kind of aggravated. Wow, were we that loud? Guess we hadn't noticed.

"Mikey and I were just…having a disagreement Sensei."

"So I heard." Sensei lowered his eyebrows to give Leo an irritated look. Leo's face turned faintly darker and he looked down again. Splinter eyed him for a while longer, then me. He raised his eyebrows at me when I gave him a timid half smile. "Well?"

"Uh…" Yep, that was as good as it was gonna get for now. I really hadn't wanted to tell Sensei until later! I'd wanted to talk to Leo first, get myself mentally prepared and possibly well armed. "I've uh…got something to tell you Sensei." Oh shit, did I just say that? Man, I wonder why I even talk sometimes!

"Would it have anything to do with your being out from morning till night? Or possibly with Leonardo's strange behavior whenever your antics are mentioned?"

I stared at him. Man, and I thought I'd been doing pretty good with the whole secretive thing too! I knew it when I was a kid and I sure as hell knew it now- Sensei knows EVERYTHING. "Eh…it might have something to do with that, yeah."

He raised an eyebrow, looking at me expectantly. "Well? I'm listening, Michelangelo."

"Um…could we talk somewhere more…private?" And where there aren't any sharp cooking utensils lying around?

Sensei looked at me for a few seconds, then nodded. "Very well. Come with me, Michelangelo." And he turned and started walking toward his room. Ah, crap! Bad things always happened to me in that room! It was like going in to get plastic surgery! You go in expecting everything to get better when you leave…but it's always five times uglier when you do.

I gulped and hesitated to follow after Sensei, but Leo shoved me a little to get me going. I gave him a smile that I hoped looked casual. I guess I looked as freaked out as I felt, coz Leo smiled sympathetically at me and whispered "Just remember your respect, bowing and speaking when spoken to and all that; you have a hard time with that, but you really, really need to try to get on his good side. Try to avoid any sudden outbursts- those piss him right off. And…" He looked like he was trying to think of other scenarios where I'd need help. "Oh, and if you get angry, don't let him know. He'll probably be more reasonable if you're reasonable with him, too."

"Anything else? What if he says I can't see her anymore??"

Leo shrugged. "I don't know Mike…if he says that, I guess you just have to accept it. I'm just trying to help keep you out of any more trouble."

"Michelangelo!"

I jumped, nodded to Leo, and hurried to Master Splinter's room. Just accept it? Was Leo nuts? If Sensei said I couldn't see Ginny anymore, I'd die inside! And…to be honest, I'd have to do a lot more lying than before. I'd probably keep seeing Ginny…but I wouldn't let Leo know this time. I mean come on, how asshole-ish would it be to ask him to lie for me again? Nah, I'd have to go it on my own if it came to the worst.

I walked into Sensei's room, where he was already standing waiting for me. I was so nervous I almost forgot to close the door behind me, but I caught myself before it became too obvious. I closed it, a bit too quickly, which made a loud noise when the door hit the wall. I hurried to kneel in front of him, remembering what Leo said about the whole respect thing and bowing when I did so. It felt weird, since I always treated Sensei like my dad, not like…well, my Sensei. I usually only did the bowing thing when the others did it- we all got called in at the same time when we were ALL in trouble, which usually called for some major ass-kissing since it was probably something pretty huge.

Sensei told me to rise, which I knew to mean "stop bowing", so I straightened. The saying kind of reminded me of the army's "at ease". I almost laughed at my own thoughts, which I do a lot, but caught myself. Excuse me if I'm so damn funny that I laugh at myself.

For some reason it seemed like the room temperature shot up about thirty degrees as Sensei stared at me for a while, like he was trying to read my mind or something. Sometimes I seriously believe that he can.

"Alright then, Michelangelo." He crossed his arms, and I peeked up at him to check the look on his face. It was expectant, like before, but now it looked like he'd figured out that what I had to tell him was kind of a big deal. "I'd like an explanation, when you are ready."

I nodded, staring at a space on the wall beside his head as my own head spun with my secret panic attack. Man, how do you start something like this? Hey, dad! I've been seeing this really hot human girl for a couple months now…did I mention she happens to have a boyfriend (oh, and I'm on his hit list by the way), and she works at the pizzeria so I've been hanging out in public around people for quite a while now? Yeah that would go down so well. I'll probably end up with some kind of walking-stick-related concussion.

"Okay…" I started, taking a deep breath. No backing out this time, Mikey! "Sensei, promise you won't get angry?"

His eyebrows lowered, and I realized that's what I'd always said when I was a little turtle tot, and I didn't want to get in trouble. Now he KNEW it was big. "I'm afraid I can make no such promise, Michelangelo." Okay…that was a bit different from when I was a kid. Usually he was like 'Of course Michelangelo, I'll let you off the hook, coz you're so freaking adorable and all that jazz'. Not so much anymore.

"I guess that's fair." I shrugged. Well, it wasn't fair. But I remembered Leo's advice about being reasonable. And parents usually respond better when there's no blame set on them. "Okay…Sensei, you know how I've been uh…Raph-ing it up for the past two months?"

"If by that you mean you have been out for all hours of the day, every day for two months, then yes."

"Well…I haven't been doing exactly what you think I've been doing. Training or just hanging out or any of that stuff…"

"Oh?"

"Yeah." I felt my stomach twist as the full force of my lying hit me. Man, I'd been full of shit for a long time now! Guess that kind of makes me a bad person, doesn't it? …Oh well. "I've been…well, at the pizzeria for all that time."

He stared at me for a few moments. Then he shook his head. "Please, tell me you are joking, my son."

I frowned. I hadn't even gotten to the part about Ginny yet. Oh! "Oh, no Sensei! I haven't just been hanging out there for the pizza! I'm not that nuts." He looked like he didn't believe me. What, a guy can't like his pizza without being a nutjob? Whatever. "No, I mean…I've been hanging out there…for the cashier."

He stared at me again. I braced myself for impact. Instead of exploding like I'd expected, he answered very quietly, "The cashier?"

"Yeah, she's this cute redheaded girl. Here name's Ginger. I've been hanging out with her, 'cause she has an abusive boyfriend and stuff, so she needs someone to make her feel better. We've become really good friends…." I said all of that really fast, then trailed off at the end. Well, that wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. But it still sounded just as stupid as it had in my head. There was no way I could talk my way out of this one.

"Michelangelo…" Sensei sounded angry, I could hear it in his voice, because it was stern and sounded loud even though he was speaking really quietly, "You know that conversing with humans is dangerous."

"I know Sensei." I have to admit, I was kind of relieved that he wasn't exploding on me. "But she's different, I swear."

"You can't know that Michelangelo. When she finds out that you are not human she will not so readily accept your friendship."

"Uh…"

He seemed to freeze a little, then raised his eyebrows at me, almost like he was saying 'are you effing kidding me, my son'. Not that he'd actually say that. Would be funny though. If I wasn't afraid for my life.

"Michelangelo…"

"She…kinda already knows about that Sensei."

He hardly let me finish my sentence. "When?" was his short response. Ohh, I might have just triggered the explosion just then.

"…just today. Before I came home, actually. She saw my hand, and asked me to tell her the truth."

"That does not mean you had to."

"But I did, Sensei! She said she'd never speak to me again if I didn't tell her the truth!"

He frowned at me then. He looked like he was thinking about something as he just kind of watched me. I looked down at the ground, never having liked to be under that creepy stare.

"How do you feel about this human, Michelangelo?"

Ah, hell. I blushed a little. "I…don't know Sensei." I really didn't know. I mean yeah, I liked her, but there was this freaky connection I felt with her too. Reminded me of like a sci-fi movie or something. Dude…if Ginny was an alien Don would be so jealous! It'd be like Jhanna the sequel, except this one would stick around for a while…

Sensei was quiet for a long time, just looking at me. I looked up once to check his face again. He was frowning. He didn't look angry, more like worried. That was weird. What was there to be worried about?

"Michelangelo."

"Yes Sensei?"

He looked at me for one more second, looking almost…pitying? "Michelangelo, I'm afraid that I cannot allow you to see this girl again."

My head snapped up involuntarily. All of Leo's words about calm and collected and reasonable went out the window. "What?!"

He shook his head, setting his face into a firm expression. "I am sorry, my son, but this girl is too dangerous. She has affected your mind in dangerous ways, and has kept you away from home." I opened my mouth to say something, then closed it and looked down. Well, at least I still had my sneaking to see her thing. "And from now on, one of your brothers will accompany you on your journeys to the city."

I felt my eyes snap wide again. "WHAT? But Sensei-!"

""Michelangelo, I will not debate this with you. It is dangerous to be so close to a human, and you know that."

"Sensei, she's not dangerous, I swear! She wouldn't tell anyone!"

"You cannot be certain of that. And what of this boyfriend of hers? It is too dangerous of a situation for you to be in, Michelangelo. You are young and immature, and I will not allow you to get yourself into something you cannot get out of."

Now I knew EXACTLY what Raph meant when he told me he sees red whenever he's really angry. I am completely convinced that I was utterly insane that day. I stood up abruptly, almost vibrating coz I was just so effing mad. Sensei couldn't do this to me! Couldn't he understand how I felt about Ginny? How I almost NEEDED her? And how she needed ME? "Sensei, you can't!" Deep in the back of my racing brain, I knew I was gonna be in some deep shit for this. But I couldn't just sit back and let Sensei take Ginny away from me, and leave her alone with Jacob again.

"I can and will, Michelangelo." He stared me down after that. I felt like Raph. Raph always had little outbursts like that when he got angry at Sensei, and Sensei always gave him the same stare down he was giving me. "Now please, calm down. This is very unlike you."

I glared at him. My stomach hurt; I was so angry and frustrated that it was all knotted up. I didn't calm down. I didn't want to calm down. Instead I turned around a walked out. I forgot to close the door behind me, but I really didn't care. And I did something that I NEVER did- I went to the dojo. I really needed to hit something, and to be honest, the guys were lucky that they didn't say anything to me on my way there, coz I might have used them as a punching bag.

I entered the dojo, hardly noticing one of my brothers was already in there. It was Leo, which I noticed as I dully noted his voice, but I didn't hear what he saying because my ears were ringing and I wasn't paying attention. I went straight for the punching bag and started to beat the hell out of it, growling every swear word I knew under my breath.

I didn't even notice Leo was trying to get my attention until he grabbed my shoulder and turned me around, but even then my brain didn't register it and I swung a fist at him on accident. He caught it in his hand though.

"Mikey! Calm down!"

I looked at his beak, where my eye-level was with him. I didn't want to look at him. I didn't even know why. You know how your eyes hurt whenever you try to look directly at the sun? You can't even get all the way to look straight at it, coz your reflexes force you to look down. That's kind of how I felt when I tried to look my oldest brother in the eyes.

"Mikey…"

"He shouldn't be able to do this!" I shouted, still not looking at him, the words kind of tumbling out before I could get control of them. "He shouldn't be able to take her away from me!"

Leo's voice was quiet, like he didn't know what to say. "Mike, I don't know what to-"

"She needs me Leo! I can't just leave her! She hasn't got anyone else!" I was shouting at the floor. This might sound wimpy, but I was afraid if I looked up at Leo then I'd start crying or something.

I couldn't tell if Leo was looking at me like I was nuts, like he was angry at me for being so disrespectful, like he was sorry for me... I didn't even know if he was looking at me at all. "Mike…" I finally looked up at him then. He looked sorry for me, and like something was hurting him. Weird. "What did he say?"

"He said that I can't see Ginny anymore. And that whenever I go topside, one of you has to go with me." I was looking straight at him now, and sure enough my eyes started burning. I wasn't really sobbing- I was just really angry, and sad too.

Leo bit his lip and looked at the ground like he was thinking about something. "Mike, I can go with you topside, and let you see her if you want." He spoke quietly so no one would hear.

"No! Leo you've lied for two months for me, and you rock for that. I'm not gonna make you do it again." I wiped my arm across my eyes to get the stupid tears away.

"But Mike-"

We both shut up and turned our heads as the slow thuds of Sensei's walking stick told us he was entering the dojo.

"Michelangelo." He was still pissed. Good. "Because of your outburst, and blatant disrespect towards me, you are not to leave the lair under any circumstances."

"Wha-?!" Leo kicked me to cut me off. Sensei just turned and left, still looking very angry with me, angrier than he was before. As soon as he left the dojo my breathing started to get faster. Then I yelled, almost like a crazy person, and hit the punching bag with my fist. It fell down. "Dammit!"

"Mikey, quiet down, you'll get in more trouble."

"I don't care Leo! He's ruining EVERYTHING!"

"Mike, don't-"

"Does he know what he's DOING? This isn't about me, Leo! He's putting Ginny in huge danger! She needs me!"

"Mike!" Leo grabbed my shoulders. I quieted down and looked at the floor, my face flushed with anger and slight embarrassment coz I kept freaking out periodically. I hadn't really noticed I was crying until Leo wiped a tear off my cheek with his thumb. I jerked away, not coz I was angry at Leo…I was just angry at everything that moved. I heard Leo sigh quietly, his hands still on my shoulders, and I knew he was watching me.

"I wanna call her." Leo didn't say anything. "I don't care if you tell Sensei or not."

"I won't."

I peeked up at Leo, moving just my eyes and not my head. He definitely looked like something was hurting him. I wondered what could be bothering him so much that he looked like that. I nodded to him in response. I wanted to leave, but my legs wouldn't work for me. I was a little surprised when Leo wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug, but I didn't hesitate to hug back either. I needed one anyway, and Leo's were always really good. When we let go, I told him I was going to bed, and he just nodded and said goodnight.

I walked to my room with my head down, hoping Raph and Don were in their rooms already. Apparently they were, or Raph was out late again, coz I didn't meet either of them on my way there. Sensei's door was closed, and I figured he was probably in there again. I felt my stomach twist and my eyes burn again when I looked at that stupid door, and I slammed mine closed when I entered my room.

I slipped off my bandana without untying it, noticing two darker colored spots under the eye holes where it'd gotten wet. I threw it on the floor and slumped onto my bed, burying my face in my pillow. I pressed it against my face and yelled until my throat hurt. Then I rolled over onto my other side to face the wall next to my bed, and just glared at it.

And it was then that I knew exactly what all the kids in the movies were talking about- parents SUCK.

A/N: Wow that took a long time to write. Poor Mikey pants! Don't forget to review, and leave Mikey a hug when you do! I'm sure that will make him very happy.


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